Agassi by Djokovic’s side for title defense
In a bizarre sort of way, the French Open is the scene of the crime for Novak Djokovic.
Last year, as the world No. 1, Djokovic enjoyed one of his most thrilling career moments by finally conquering the red clay of Roland Garros. He had been in the French Open final three times before but failed to add the title to his other Grand Slam tournament trophies, a collection that included multiple victories in all the other majors.
The downside is that since becoming a French Open champion he has struggled with his tennis and he has been thwarted in scoring a 13th major title.
Second-seeded Djokovic’s return to the French Open finds him still searching for answers. Attempting to recapture the glory he still longs for, a quest he’s not ready to abandon, is turning out to be quite the conundrum.
At least, for now, his defense campaign is off to an acceptable start as he bypassed Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in a 2-hour, 27-minute performance that delivered a few shaky moments Monday. Throughout the match, Djokovic admittedly didn’t play as cleanly as he would prefer.
His serve posed problems as he was broken on four of 10 opportunities he presented the Spaniard. In the end, Djokovic was able to take advantage of eight of 20 break points, which made the difference in his moving on to the second round.
“Coming to this tournament for the first time as a defending champion gave me, probably more than anything else, relief, because the anticipation and the pressure and expectations that I had also for myself, but all the other people around me in the last, three, four, five years before 2016 Roland Garros trophy was really big,” Djokovic said.
“So I was really thrilled to achieve one of my childhood dreams and win all Grand Slams. To come back to this court, it was definitely special. It was a bit of a rusty start. But in general, it was a good performance. I was feeling the ball well. I’m just glad to start off the tournament this way.”
Djokovic has been flustered as to how to fix what has been going wrong. Throughout the last 12 months, while there have been glimmers of the virtually unbeatable Djokovic tennis fans had become accustomed to watching, there have been way more periods of stagnant, lethargic performances in need of a major mental boost.
Recently, Djokovic determined only a complete shake-up would work. Just weeks before heading to Paris, he parted company with his longtime team, choosing to call in big-time reinforcement in the likes of 1999 French Open champion Andre Agassi.
Agassi, Djokovic believes, can understand his mind-set — the confusion of one day being at the top of the world to only find himself fighting to dig his way out of the doldrums.
Djokovic is correct about Agassi knowing how to rekindle a career. The eight-time Grand Slam champion had definitely been there, done that.
In 1996, Agassi was No. 1 in the world, but by November 1997 he was wallowing at No. 141 and tanking fast. The situation called for a drastic step, which found Agassi dropping down to play Challenger tournaments. As it turned out, Agassi would go on to win five of his eight career Grand Slam titles after salvaging his career and would even find himself back at No. 1.
“You know, I think this is exactly what I need at this moment, a person like him that understands the transitions as a tennis player and as a person, as well, going through these kind of lifestyle and certain choices that you make, how that affects you later on,” Djokovic said of Agassi. “So he has been through that, and he has a lot to share with me outside and inside of the tennis lines. I’m really enjoying it so far.”
Djokovic won’t be able to get too comfortable with his relationship with Agassi, at least not yet.
Agassi had commitments he couldn’t change by the time Djokovic requested his help. So the plan is that Agassi will be in Paris only for this week.
Whether the partnership continues to the grass courts or beyond remains to be determined.